If you read part 1 (which can be found here) you'll hopefully already have a good idea. As promised, here is part 2 of my round-up on awesome women in science after I made a simple call out to my local community.
In this post, you'll find out about careers in gynaecology, healthcare and nutrition. I hope you enjoy reading about what inspired these wonderful individuals to get into their fields as much I did!
Sam Forde
“I liked bugs, specifically prions. I liked all my Microbiology lessons at med school and thought I wanted to be a Microbiologist so I took a year out of med school to do my Microbiology degree. I loved it enormously but instead of prions I was drawn to the bugs that afflict obstetric and Gynaecology patients, so I spent the rest of my masters working on HPV 16 at Cambridge University and it was so much fun. That's partly what made me choose to specialise in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. That plus the specialty is 70% being a surgeon and 30% being a medic was great. I liked using my hands, so I wanted to do something surgical. I also liked the relatively happy specialty and healthy patients just going through a life event of having a baby. We obviously deal with cancer and seriously unwell patients but this is usually offset by the relatively happy and positive outcomes. Plus I get to deal surgically with girl specific problems like fibroids and cysts, etc which is always fun!”
You can follow Sam here - @sam.forde
Emily Frost
“I enjoyed science at school and understanding how things worked, especially biology, but I was also really interested in psychology too. Everything we see and do is connected to science. I went to a careers talk when I was at college, we had to choose different talks to attend and I chose to attend one on audiology, because I had never heard of it before. It opened my eyes..and ears to a whole world of healthcare careers that I had no idea about. It was an opportunity to combine science with working with people and making an impact to the quality of life to patients. Science isn’t just about working in labs and on experiments, there is much, much more!
I worked as an audiologist for about 10 years, helping people with their hearing and then an opportunity came up to work as the Lead Scientist for Education, Learning and Development. Now, I work with all Healthcare Scientists which can cover over 50 specialisms! This includes scientists in the labs, scientists working with patients, scientists working with equipment and DNA! There are so many different careers available in Healthcare Science!”
Emily is also a part time PhD student at Imperial College London.
Yvonne Wong
“I have always enjoyed studying Science at school - I loved discovering the reasons behind everything. As I got older, I discovered the concept of healing through eating, and I wanted to apply that knowledge to help people. I believe food can contribute to improvement of health and treating some illnesses. I have worked with patients with digestive illnesses for a number of years - using special diets to help them feel better. However since the pandemic started, I've become more interested in helping people who are critically ill. My current role involves helping people who are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit where I work, to meet their nutritional needs. This often requires artificial feeding using feeding tubes if they are in a medically induced coma or if they cannot swallow due to their medical conditions. Some may even require intravenous nutrition if their digestive systems are not fully functioning. I find my work very satisfying as I can help people who are so vulnerable to get stronger and better using nutritional science.”
To round up my mini-interviews I asked the million-dollar question again .......
Do you think learning science from age 6 – 11 is a good idea? If so, why?
“Of course it is! It's fun to understand how the universe works. Science helps cognitive development and encourages children to become analytical in their thought processes. Early exposure to Science at an early age also means they're more likely to enjoy it during their GCSEs and A levels, and therefore pursuing a career in Science." Yvonne Wong, Critical Care and Nutrition Support Specialist Dietitian.
“Learning science from primary school is a good idea. Children cannot be what they can't see so starting early shows them that there is a possibility to be a scientist.” Sam Forde, Doctor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
“Yes, I think it is an excellent idea! Science is all around us and what we can learn changes all of the time.” Emily Frost, Lead Healthcare Scientist.
Clearly, this is only a snapshot again of the huge variety of scientific jobs out there based on me asking a very big question to a small part of the UK.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this two part blog then do forward onto anyone you think might need that little nudge – you never know what it might inspire them to do.
Rupa Ahluwalia is the founder of RSA Discovery and passionate about getting young people into science. She has been offering science tutoring, consultancy and primary science workshops since opening her business in 2019.
For science tutoring she offers all three science for ages 6 – 16 and Biology to A-level.
She has recently launched group sessions for Year 5 and 6 girls and a short video for this can be found here and extra details here.
The next round of term time group classes begins on Tuesday 13th September, 5.30-6.30pm. Get in touch soon to book your child's place.
Bookings for all services can be made by emailing rsadiscovery@outlook.com.